Monitoring of drilling operations with flow and density measurement

Abstract

A system includes one or more sensors configured to sense at least one characteristic of fluid entering a well, one or more sensors configured to sense at least one characteristic of fluid exiting a well; and one or more control systems that receive data from at least one of the sensors.

1 . A system, comprising:
 one or more sensors configured to sense at least one characteristic of fluid entering a well;   one or more sensors configured to sense at least one characteristic of fluid exiting a well; and   one or more control systems configured to receive data from at least one of the sensors.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the sensors comprises a Coriolis meter. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system comprises at least one pump, wherein the one or more sensors configured to sense at least one characteristic of fluid entering a well comprises a Coriolis meter on the suction side of the at least one pump. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors configured to sense at least one characteristic of fluid exiting the well comprises a Coriolis meter on a flow line. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the sensors is configured to sense fluid density. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the sensors is configured to sense a mass flow rate. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the control systems is configured to automatically control a drilling operation based on data from one or more of the sensors. 
     
     
         8 . A method of quantifying effectiveness of a sweep of a well, comprising:
 measuring density of fluid entering the well;   measuring density of fluid exiting the well;   determining a difference between the density of the fluid entering the well and the density of the fluid exiting the well; and   estimating an amount of cuttings removed from the well.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising assessing sweep effectiveness based on at least one trend characteristic of the fluid density of the fluid exiting the well. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the density of fluid entering the well is measured using a Coriolis meter mounted inline between at least one active mud tank and at least one mud pump. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the density of fluid exiting the well is measured using a Coriolis meter installed in a flow line. 
     
     
         12 . A method of monitoring a circulating bottoms-up procedure, comprising:
 monitoring the density of fluid exiting a well at a target depth; and   determining when to perform at least one operation based on the density of the fluid exiting the well at the target depth.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein monitoring of the density of fluid exiting the well at the target depth is performed automatically. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the at least one operation comprises pulling a drill bit of the bottom of the well. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the at least one operation comprises stopping circulation after the bottoms up procedure. 
     
     
         16 . A method of managing fluid during displacement operations in a drilling system, comprising:
 monitoring an interface between a first fluid and a second fluid in the drilling system, wherein the first fluid is at least partially displacing the second fluid in the system; and   determining an optimum time to perform at least one operation based on the monitoring of the interface.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the at least one operation comprises closing in the system. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the optimum time to close the system minimizing the volume of slops generating during the displacement. 
     
     
         19 . A method of monitoring fluid losses from a well, comprising:
 measuring flow rate of fluid entering the well;   measuring flow rate of fluid exiting the well;   comparing the flow rate into the well with the flow rate out of the well;   determining the difference between the flow rate into the well and the flow rate out of the well; and   determining an estimate of formation loss based on the difference between the flow rate into the well and the flow rate exiting the well.   
     
     
         20 . A method of detecting kick in a well, comprising:
 measuring flow rate of fluid entering the well;   measuring flow rate of fluid exiting the well;   comparing the flow rate into the well with the flow rate exiting the well;   determining the difference between the flow rate into the well and the flow rate out of the well; and   identifying at least one kick in the well based on the difference between the flow rate into the well and the flow rate exiting the well.   
     
     
         21 . A method of characterizing flow effects in a drilling operation, comprising:
 measuring flow rate of fluid entering the well over time;   measuring flow rate of fluid exiting the well over time; and   characterizing at least one flow effect based on at least one measured flow rate of fluid.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the drilling operation is a deepwater operation. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one flow effect comprises ballooning. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one flow effect comprises influx. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one flow effect comprises formation loss. 
     
     
         26 . A method of determining dilution requirements for a well, comprising:
 assessing a volume of low gravity solids left in a mud system based on mass flow measurements; and   estimating how much dilution will be required by a specified depth of the well based on the assessed volume of low gravity solids left in the mud system.   
     
     
         27 . A graphical display for a drilling system, comprising:
 at least one plot against time of one or more flow rates of a fluid in at least one point in the system; and   at least one plot against time of cuttings not removed from the well.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the mass flow rate is a mass flow rate of fluid entering the well. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the mass flow rate is a mass flow rate of fluid exiting the well. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the cuttings are estimated based on a mass flow rate into the well and a mass flow rate out of the well. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the mass flow into and out of the well are determined based on real-time measurements from flow meters on the suction side and return sides of the well.